Civilization creator Sid Meier has said that he’s not sure he’d even play the game he released almost three decades ago if it came out today. The original Civilization was released back in 1991 and became one of the most influential games in history, inspiring an entirely new genre of strategy games. Since then, the Civilization series has spawned a sizable number of sequels and spin-offs, even releasing on smartphones and game consoles.
The Civilization series has really come a long way since it was first released. The latest title in the franchise, Civilization 6, was initially released back in 2016 for the PC and Mac but has since been launched on many other platforms, including Linux, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Android. Most recently, developer Firaxis Games released the New Frontier Pass, the first season pass ever for the series, as it previously only released full expansions.
In a recent interview with The Independent about his new memoir - aptly titled “Sid Meier’s Memoir!” - the Civilization creator said that he doesn’t think he could make Civilization today, let alone play it. According to Meier, today's gamers aren't as willing to spend time figuring out complicated games as they were back in 1991. Unlike a game of Civilization, which could take hours or even days to complete, many of the most popular titles of today don’t require a lot of time commitment per game or round, such as Fortnite and Call of Duty.
"It wouldn’t fit in the zeitgeist. It asks a lot of the player, and takes a while to work it out. You have to play it once in order to understand what's going on. You have to be willing to spend time with it, and that’s not where most gamers are these days.”
Meier goes on to explain that Civilization came out at the perfect time. He mentions in his new book that in 1998, the best-selling games of the year were Civilization 2, Warcraft II, Myst, Command & Conquer, and Duke Nukem 3D. All one but one of the titles are strategy games, which is indicative of the type of games people were more interested in at the time. Strategy games are still popular, of course, but they have nowhere near the share of the gaming audience that they did when Civilization was first released, and have come to be viewed as sort of a niche genre.
While the Civilization series is still pretty popular and successful today, it definitely isn’t reaching the heights it once did back in its heyday. But the franchise’s recent success just goes to show that there are still a lot of people that are still interested in games like Civilization 6, whether they’re older players that have been fans as far back as the original or younger gamers just getting into the series. Hopefully, Sid Meier and the developers at Firaxis Games continue to work to evolve the series to keep it both interesting and relevant in the future while still maintaining the core gameplay that made it so influential.
Source: The Independent